Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Should Will Middlebrooks Be on The Red Sox?

It was just a couple of weeks ago that G and I went down to see the Paw Sox play down in Pawtucket. It was his belated birthday and his choices were one friend at Fenway or many of his friends at the Paw Sox game. Anyone who knows G know which he picked.

We went down tot he game, got to our seats and I immediately noticed that Will Middlebrooks was in the line up for the Paw Sox. I had forgotten about him with Jose Iglesias' torrid start for the Red Sox. But there he was ignoring the buckets in front of the Paw Sox dugout. As we moved around the ball park in hopes to get a foul ball, everyone always stopped when Middlebrooks came up to bat. He seemed uncomfortable at the plate and the groans from the fans after the 2 strike outs and the two groundouts indicated to us that he was not ready to come back to the big leagues.

In other words, his 0-4 game in the Paw Sox loss was all I need to see. He was not ready to come back.

But after Iglesias was traded to the Tigers in the 3 way trade that brought Jake Peavy to the Red Sox, Middlebrooks was soon called back up to the big club.

But the question remains. Does he belong here? Granted he has hit in 11 of his last 12 games since being called up, including a monstrous home run in a 12-1 drubbing against the Giants earlier this evening. And since being called up, his batting average has climbed from .192 to .228. His OBP has gone up from .238 (really that low?) to .279. And his slugging? From .395 to .431. He has started his second stint with the Sox fairly strongly. But the Red Sox need more than 11 good games from their 3rd baseman.

So the question remains. Middlebrooks is a good hitter and will make a good complement to Xander Bogearts who will be the Red Sox shortstop. Give him another chance.